A relaxed start to our delightful journey as we meet at our Sydney hotel in the early afternoon. Relax and check-in or join us as we visit the historic Rocks, site of the first European settlement. Step back in time at the Rocks Discovery Museum or you can choose to explore the many shops at leisure. Be uplifted by Evensong at St Andrew’s Cathedral, where the cathedral’s world-famous boys and men’s choir sing to the glory to God.

Tonight is a chance to get to know your fellow travelers during our first Group Dinner.

Overnight: Sydney

We leave the “Big Smoke” behind as we head north to the famous Hunter Valley Gardens. Nestled at the foothills of the Brokenback Ranges, in the heart of the Hunter vineyards, are over 25 hectares of international display gardens including twelve stunning feature gardens. Enjoy superb views from the lookout and re-live your childhood with all our favourite fairy-tale characters in the Storybook Garden before lunch at the garden terrace café. We travel on to Tamworth, known as the home of Country Music, to stay the night.

Overnight: Tamworth

2 NIGHTS

We stop at Australia’s Country Music Capital, Tamworth and visit its famed Golden Guitar before our journey takes to Mt Kaputar National Park. Enjoy Morning Tea in beautiful surrounds and a chance to stretch the legs – it’s an easy 10-minute walk to see the incredible formation known as the Sawn Rocks.

We stop off in Wee Waa, Australia’s Cotton Capital, where you have time at leisure to look around this small country town before traveling on to Lightning Ridge. Famous as the only source of black opal in the world, the Ridge’s stark and scarred landscape has a peculiar fascination for visitors. The town attracts a wide variety of people and has an amazing community of colourful characters, many drawn to move to “the Ridge” having contracted “opal fever.”

We will be joined for dinner by BCA Field Staff Kurt & Rebecca Langmead who will help us understand what it is like to minister in this unique Outback town. Also joining us will be BCA’s George and Carmel Ferguson who minister to the Barwon District.

Overnight: Lightning Ridge

One of the many unique features of a CFT holiday is the chance to worship with local Christians. Share Sunday worship with the Lightning Ridge Community Church and the Langmead family, BCA Field Staff who share God’s Word with the diverse population of this mining town.

Learn about all thing’s opal as well as local history and yarns from a Ridge resident. We visit historic Three Mile Flat, an early opal miners’ settlement, before heading to Lunatic Hill Open Cut, the largest opal mine in NSW. Learn all about the famous Black Opal, discover the largest opal agitator, watch an opal cutting demonstration and try fossicking for these precious gems. Enjoy a Devonshire Tea at the historic Old Red Rattler Train Carriages and be intrigued by the town’s other quirky landmarks such as the Bottle House Mining Museum and Amigos Castle (a huge Italian Style Castle built by one man).

Enjoy a fascinating tour of the Chambers of the Black Hand, a remarkable underground opal mine and museum. Unique in Australia it was created when a former miner turned artist, Ron Canlin, cut and sculptured dozens of characters and animals into the walls of the old mine. Ron is constantly carving new work and today there are over 900 hand-carved sculptures including a depiction of the Last Supper and Archangel Gabriel. Further below is an 100-year old, worked out opal mine where the original shafts and drives dug by the old timers are still in place. Learn about the geology from a local miner, how opal forms in the rock strata, hear stories about the old timers and the evolution of opal mining to the present day.
What a wonderful day!

Overnight: Lightning Ridge

We farewell “the Ridge”, travelling through Collarenebri on the Barwon River, we are driving through cotton country and wheat farming areas as we head to Moree.
We will be stopping in Moree for a lunch break, and you can choose how you want to spend the time. At the local baths you can soak in hot artesian springs, sourced naturally from deep inside the Great Artesian Basin, and discover the therapeutic benefits of the mineral-rich waters.

Alternately you may wish to visit the Bank Art Museum, look at the town’s street murals or simply sit at the Artesian Bath café and relax.

Then it is on to the historic township of Glen Innes where the early white settlers were Scottish pastoralists and Cornish and Welsh miners who left a legacy of European plantings and strong Celtic roots. The area is also known as the “Land of the Beardies” and some of the legends surrounding the name are as long as the pioneer’s beards!

Early autumn colour can be seen in the avenues of deciduous trees as we drive out to the Australian Standing Stones monument, erected in 1992 to celebrate the area’s Celtic heritage.

Overnight: Glen Innes

2 NIGHTS

From Glen Innes we travel east through the Gibraltar Range National Park, that offers World Heritage listed Gondwana rainforest and spectacular views. In Grafton we step back in time to a bygone era when we visit Schaeffer House, now home to the Clarence River Historical Society, the oldest historical society in the country. Built from 1901 to 1903, by Grafton’s first architect, the fine rooms and contemporary furnishing reflect the emerging Federation style of the time.

Enjoy time at leisure to explore Grafton’s Prince Street or walk down to Memorial Park and relax on the banks of the Clarence River.

We travel north to the fertile Tweed Valley to visit Tweed Valley Whey Farmhouse Cheeses – a delightful place to stop, offering award winning cheeses, yoghurt, kefir and gelato made from their own farm fresh milk. Taste the delicious cheeses, relax in the café and explore the farm shop. This small outlet has is a great variety of local produce, gourmet foods and a wonderful range of Chez Pottery which is handmade in Burringbar.

Overnight: Tweed Heads

Cuppa anyone? Enjoy an estate tour of Madura Tea Plantation, the only place in in the world where you can experience the full tea production process, from plant to pack. In picturesque Murwillumbah we visit Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, a top regional Art Gallery with lovely grounds and views to Wollumbin / Mount Warning.

With a dynamic program of touring exhibitions, alongside exclusive exhibitions showcasing the regional artists, plus a permanent collection of portraits representing Australia’s diverse community, the Tweed Gallery is a must do for art lovers. In addition, the Margaret Olley Arts Centre pays tribute to the illustrious career, life and enduring legacy of Australia’s most celebrated painter of still life and interiors.
We visit Tropical Fruit World Farm for a fully guided plantation safari. Learn how tropical fruits grow, how they are harvested and planted, and, most importantly, how they taste – some we’ll recognise, some we won’t!

Overnight: Tweed Heads

2 NIGHTS

Get ready for a truly unique activity as we combine a “Catch a Crab” tour with a cruise down the serene Tweed River; catch crabs and yabbies, go fishing and learn about oyster farming. Feed the pelicans before enjoying a delicious fish and chip lunch made with fresh catches, including the crabs that you just caught!
Take a journey through time and learn about the Traditional Custodians of this area at the Minjungbal Aboriginal Cultural Centre. Join a local guide to learn about Aboriginal life when this area was an untouched paradise of natural forest and mangroves. Walk together through the museum and onto the Walk on Water Track; hear about the history and cultural significance of different sites, including the Bora Ring.

We cross the border into Queensland and drive up into Darling Downs, a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range. We will be exploring this scenic area for the rest of our tour, with Toowoomba, Queensland’s oldest inland city, our home for the next two nights.

Overnight: Toowoomba

Toowoomba is known as the Garden City for with its cooler climate and fertile soils, hundreds of parks and gardens thrive. One of these is Brindabella Gardens, a 4-acre English Style Garden filled with perfumed flowers, cottage perennials, and rare plant specimens. This cool, mountain garden is unique in Queensland so enjoy time to wander and appreciate its beauty.

We seek refreshment in the small town of Crows Nest where Crows Nest Soft Drinks have been operating since 1903, making it one of the oldest surviving “small town” manufacturers of soft drinks and syrup flavourings. See the operation from production to bottling and relive your childhood summers as you taste a Creaming Soda or Double Sarsaparilla.

Take a trip down memory lane as we visit the Crows Nest Museum and Historical Village to explore the many buildings lovingly restored by volunteers. See the original Ray White Real Estate building, this big business had its humble beginnings in Crows Nest way back in 1902.

We return to Toowoomba for time at leisure to wander this charming town – browse the shops, enjoy a coffee, do the Russell Street Historical walk or admire the many street art murals throughout the CBD.

Overnight: Toowoomba

2 NIGHTS

Meet the locals at Toowoomba’s bustling Farmer’s Market – grab a coffee, buy some fresh produce or simply soak up the atmosphere as you browse the stalls.

The Cobb & Co Museum is a Toowoomba “must-see”. Part of the Queensland Museum and home to the National Carriage Collection, it traces the history of horse drawn transportation in Australia from old timber wagons, spring wagons, and bullock drays through to the Cobb & Co coaches and the elegant Victoria and a landau used by the Duke of Edinburgh when he visited the colony in 1876.
Then we “saddle up” and travel to Warwick, the rodeo capital of Southern Queensland. Settled 150 years ago, this historic country town has some lovely heritage buildings and a proud agricultural history. Learn all about the thrill of the rodeo at Australia’s Rodeo Heritage Centre, a museum dedicated to the rich history and tradition of rodeo, and the spirit of the cowboy.

Overnight: Warwick

Sharing worship and fellowship with local Christians is always a highlight of any CFT tour, and this Palm Sunday it is a joy to join the congregation of St Marks Anglican.
Enjoy a big Sunday lunch at the heritage-listed Criterion Hotel, a grand old pub with a rich history and charming Victorian architecture.

Mid-afternoon we head off to the shores of Lake Moogerah where a unique experience awaits – the inspirational Moogerah Passion Play. Dating back to 1993 the vision of this Passion Play was to involve an entire community, both Christians and non-Christians, in the presentation of the Gospels. The 2.5 hour performance has a script based firmly on the Bible, with the words of Christ unchanged from those in the Gospels.

The Lake Theatre is the first permanent Passion Play venue in Australia and volunteers have created an olive grove and a palm grove as well as a “Sea of Galilee” for the staging of scenes involving water and a fishing boat. Here you will find a variety of food options that are available before and after the performance (own choice and cost).

We return to Warwick, filled with joy, after a truly wonderful Palm Sunday.

Overnight: Warwick

We farewell the Darling Downs and travel to Brisbane Airport to connect with our flights. We return home feeling truly blessed after this holiday filled with spiritual connection.